Toxic Elephant

People Ready

Posted by matijs Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:27:00 GMT

First, what the hell does Microsoft’s slogan people ready even mean? The campaign’s site seems to think it means you need people to run a business. Well, I don’t see any businesses around run by small rodents, so I guess they’re right. That’s some vision

So, what’s this about? Some bloggers got paid for writing about people ready, and people got upset. Now, some defend themselves saying they didn’t endorse anything, and some defend themselves saying of course it’s an ad box (whatever an ad box is).

Well, I don’t think this looks like an ad, and it may not be an endorsement of a Microsoft product, but it is an endorsement of a Microsoft campaign. Oh, and look at the right of the page. It says “Click here to submit your own People Ready Business story”. So, that pretty much suggests that the content on the left was also submitted the same way. But of course, it wasn’t.

Luckily, at least one of the entries seems to have been written while drunk.

People readiness is something only people that are ready for people to be ready can be ready for.

All this via Mark’s translation.

Finally, back to the meaning: “people ready” means ready for people, right? Just like HD ready means ready for HD. Well, sort of anyway. But no, it means the people are ready. See?

Campaign lame.

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Dream

Posted by matijs Tue, 13 Feb 2007 09:43:00 GMT

Last night, I had a dream. There was a gathering of people for dinner. It was probably not my house. I mean, it didn’t look like my actual house, but in my dream it was also not my house. We sat at a table with a thick rough wooden top. The light was soft, coming mostly from the simple lamp hanging over the table. The floor was also wooden, as were the low shelves lining the walls at the other side of the room.

I was sitting at the head of the table. I’m not that tall, so I was looking slightly up at the other people at the table. On the second chair to my left sat a young man who was somehow connected to Microsoft. Probably he worked there. He was very enthousiastic about Vista.

At some point he said something that really upset me. I think it was about how something could not be fixed, and users just had to either live with it, of buy something new. I told him, how can he say that when there are people how have to get by on very little money, and can’t afford to buy the shiney new stuff, and that Bill Gates is really out of touch with reality. I don’t remember the exact words, but I was clearly very angry. The young man decided this animosity was too much for him, and left.

Afterwards, I was standing on the other side of the room, shaking so badly that I dropped two glasses that I was trying to drink from to calm down on the floor.

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Toxic Elephant is Matijs van Zuijlen's weblog.

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